Later Victorian Portraits Catalogue

Social reformer; born 13 April 1828 at Glendale, Northumberland, into a prominent Whig family. Married 1852 educationist George Butler with whom she had three sons, and a daughter who died in tragic accident; lived successively in Oxford, Cheltenham, Liverpool and Winchester; devoutly religious, with a sense of divine mission, espoused causes promoting women’s educational and moral welfare, notably through leadership of the campaign (1869–86) to repeal the Contagious Diseases Acts, which subjected prostitutes to medical inspection; also established women’s refuges, supported female suffrage and extended the campaign to protect sex workers to continental Europe; died 30 December 1906 at Wooler, Northumberland.

Dr Jan Marsh

Referencesback to top

Barringer et al. 2012
Barringer, T., J. Rosenfeld and A. Smith, Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde, exh cat., Tate Britain, London, 2012.

Bell 1968
Bell, E.M., Josephine Butler: Flame of Fire, London, 1968.

Bennett 1988
Bennett, M., Artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Circle: The First Generation. Catalogue of Works in the Walker Art Gallery, Lady Lever Art Gallery and Sudley Art Gallery, Liverpool and London, 1988.

Butler 1954
Butler, A.S.G., Portrait of Josephine Butler, London, 1954.

Butler 1896
Butler, J.E., Personal Reminiscences of a Great Crusade, London, 1896.

Butler 1909
Butler, J.E., Josephine E. Butler: An Autobiographical Memoir, ed. G.W. Johnson and L.A. Johnson, intro. by J. Stuart, Bristol, 1909.

Cooper 1922
L. Hay Cooper, Josephine Butler and Her Work for Social Purity, London, 1922.

Davis 2009
Davis, J., The Age of Consent: A Warning from History. The Work of Josephine Butler, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 2009.

Fawcett & Turner 1927
Fawcett, M., and E.M. Turner, Josephine Butler: Her Work and Principles, London, 1927.

Gould 2004
Gould, V.F., G.F. Watts: The Last Great Victorian, London, 2004.

Hooper 1912
Hooper, E.S., ‘Butler, Mrs. Josephine Elizabeth (1828–1906)’, DNB, London, 1912.

Jordan 2001
Jordan, J., Josephine Butler, London, 2001.

Longford 1981
Longford, E., Eminent Victorian Women, London, 1981.

Ormond & Ormond 2012
Ormond, L., and R. Ormond, G.F. Watts: The Hall of Fame: Portraits of his Famous Contemporaries, Compton, Surrey, 2012.

Petrie 1971
Petrie, G., A Singular Iniquity: The Campaigns of Josephine Butler, London, 1971.

Sykes 2006
Sykes, A.H., Portraits of Josephine Butler, pamphlet, Kendal, 2006.

Walkowitz 2004
Walkowitz, J.R., ‘Butler, Josephine Elizabeth (1828–1906)’, ODNB, Oxford, 2004; online ed., May 2006.

Watts 1905
G.F. Watts Memorial Exhibition, exh. cat., Manchester City Art Gallery, 1905.

Watts 1912
Watts, M.S., George Frederic Watts: The Annals of an Artist’s Life, 3 vols, London, 1912.